Wednesday, July 8, 2009

"The Princess and the Animator" - New Disney Featurette Released

Another featurette for Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" came out yesterday.

In this one, the Supervising Animator for Tiana (Mark Henn) and the Directors talk about creating a new Disney princess.

We don't see much concept art for Tiana's character in this video but I've included a few images here to illustrate some of the ways a character is explored. Once a design is decided/agreed on, the concept is then refined on a model sheet,which becomes the standard reference for all the character's animation in the future.

Please note: Most of these were drawn by French character designer David Gilson - who has worked extensively for Disney - but I cannot verify these were done specifically for the movie (you can see his blog HERE and go straight to his website & gallery by clicking on the images below). They are, however, the sort of art you'd see pinned up on the development boards at the studio, as they're starting to get close to a design everyone is happy with. I've noted the confirmed Disney drawings, just to be clear.

CONFIRMED DISNEY ANIMATION CONCEPT ART

The featurette, in which they discuss the development of both art and character of the new Disney heroine, is titled "The Princess and the Animator".